Author Notes: I haven't been very active on Food52 of late as I've been on a rather intense journey discovering the benefits of raw milk, lacto-fermentation and ancient grains—perhaps a bit out there for this crowd? But I came up with this recipe using raw cream, eggs straight from the farm, agave nectar and fennel pollen that tastes just like spring. The beautiful pink color comes from a puree of strawberries but there are also chunks of whole berry to add texture to the creamy base. - gluttonforlife - gluttonforlife

Food52 Review: You would think that the key ingredient in this ice cream would be the fragrant fennel pollen, but it's actually the agave nectar. It makes for a featherlight custard and a sweetness that recedes to the shadows, allowing all the attention fall on the berries. The fennel does its work, too, and we liked how gluttonforlife let it infuse the ice cream without overpowering it. If you can't get fennel pollen, don't sweat it -- just add ground anise seed or fennel seed in the same proportion. - A&M - The Editors

Makes about 5 cups

13/4cup heavy raw or organic cream

3 fat strips of lemon zest

1/2teaspoon fennel pollen

1/8teaspoon sea salt

2 large free-range eggs

2/3cup plus 3 tablespoons agave nectar, separated

3cups ripe strawberries, trimmed and halved

1cup strawberries, trimmed and cut into chunks

juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine cream, zest, fennel pollen and salt in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and discard zest.

Whisk eggs with 2/3 cup agave nectar in a bowl, then add hot cream in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour back into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and an instant-read thermometer registers 170°. Do not boil!

Immediately pour custard through a fine sieve into a metal bowl, then cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Cover and chill until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

While custard is chilling, purée strawberries with lemon juice and remaining 3 tablespoons agave nectar until smooth, then force through fine sieve to remove seeds (or not, this step is optional) into chilled custard. Stir purée into custard.

Freeze in ice-cream maker. About ¾ of the way through (time varies depending on your machine), stir in strawberry chunks. Finish freezing, then transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

This is a stellar recipe. I used fresh fennel pollen from my garden. To get the pollen pick the flowers from your fennel plant before the pollen gets blown from them. Be sure to leave about 5 to 6 inches of stem when cutting. Use a brown paper bag to shake out the pollen from the fennel flower by hitting it against the sides of your bag. Enjoy!

Really interested in trying this, but it won't be with agave nectar. (See April 15 article in Huffington Post by Joseph Mercola . . . specifically, "Most agave 'nectar' or agave 'syrup' is nothing more than a laboratory-generated super-condensed fructose syrup, devoid of virtually all nutrient value, and offering you metabolic misfortune in its place.") Plan to use maple syrup instead; will report back. Sounds like there's something about agave nectar, however, that provides an advantage in maintaining the texture of the ice cream, so this will be interesting. Stay tuned . . . . ;o)

Hey AJ, this is a great recipe but if you dislike agave nectar you may want to try brown rice syrup. I don't know the research on it but I know it is neutral in flavor where as maple syrup is probably going to over power everything in this really nice recipe.

It's been pretty easy for me to find 100% pure agave made from the juice of the plant. An interesting alternative might be yacón syrup, although I see you're having a love affair with maple syrup. Hopefully, you're using grade B...

Well, it's not really a love affair (and yes, it's Grade B). I find that maple syrup adds a mild sweetness, without a distinct flavor, in recipes where the other ingredients are themselves fairly flavorful. So it actually doesn't overpower the other flavors. What is the brand of agave nectar that you use? I'm not suggesting that they are all bad . . . but it does seem that the manufacturers of many are misleading the public into believing that the stuff they are making is actually good for you. The fact that the product is labeled "organic" apparently is not dispositive. ;o)

Read the article -- interesting that he says "many" and "most companies" but states that agave when extracted correctly and organic is at or under the index for safe (for allowed fructose levels in the body daily). Will be interesting to see what further research comes up on this and if articles like these help to regulate the controls on natural food products so that companies like the ones that he is referring to are not able to cut an otherwise natural product with corn syrup and the like....

Thirshfeld, I actually have some brown rice syrup, which I use on occasion in pecan pies. Ironically, it doesn't seem that neutral. I use both -- maple syrup and brown rice syrup -- in place of corn syrup in my favorite pecan pie recipe. I notice the brown rice syrup, but not the maple. ;o)

Just read the HuffPost piece. Sigh. I think the bottom line really is to limit all sweeteners, and especially those that undergo extensive processing. I cut out all sugars for over a month and I can't tell you how much my skin, digestion and mental clarity improved. I think I will stick to rapadura and maple syrup and raw honey, but only for an occasional treat. Thanks for the heads-up, AJ! Let me know how the ice cream turns out...

Love, love, love fennel pollen. I have some, too, and the ice cream maker is perpetually on the counter now (canister in the freezer). Love the surprising combo of fennel and strawberry. Genius. Good luck!

Thanks, all, for your support! I tried a version of this with milk instead of cream and yacón syrup instead of agave and it was really good, though you had to whizz it up in the food processor every time it came out of the freezer.

I've been experimenting with ice creams that use something other than processed sugar for a few months and so love your use of agave nectar here. I'll definitely make this one this week it looks so interesting. Many congrats for being finalist this week!

Congrats! This looks really good. I have been wondering where you have been. Raw milk, lacto-fermentation and ancient grains aren't to far out for me. I actually am always looking for new recipes for lacto-fermentation. I have two 10 liter crocks for sauerkraut and pickles, make my own kimchi etc etc so post away.